Everything Too Much
by Golden-Mist
Summary: This was Glee. It was all about heart. And maybe if she could remember that from now on, hers would be stronger. She would be stronger.
1. Definition: Realize

**So yeah, this wouldn't get outta my head, because I basically adore Brittany and I love Rachel even more and I figure at some point they're gonna be the awesomest friends that ever pinky-swore. I'd just thought I'd speed that up a little.**

**I've only seen Mash-Up to Mattress. So yeah, my **_**Glee**_** knowledge is a little limited and my Brittany is a tad smarter than **_**Glee**_** Brittany, but let's just say that's because I'm giving her layers, alright? Alright. Enjoy.**

* * *

She turned her head from side to side. Her pretty, long dark hair fell in wet strands over her face and neck. Her eyes were unusually bright, her cheeks unnaturally red, and her purple stained mouth was started to quiver.

Overall, Rachel Berry looked a mess.

Brittany stood behind her, biting her lip, trying not to talk and say the wrong thing. It was maybe the worst feeling in the world ever, seeing Rachel like this and not all divatudin' and storming-outish. Rachel looked down, back up, met the Cheerio's eyes in the mirrors, and whispered, "Thank you."

_Please don't._ The air whooshed out of Brittany as she rushed forward, dipping fisted paper towels in the filled sink and dabbing at the splatters on Rachel's neck, trying not to notice the smaller girl's shivering. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, Rachel."

"You didn't do anything," Rachel's voice was too soft. Brittany was gonna cry if she didn't.

"But…but…" Brittany started. "I'm so sure, in the past…" She couldn't remember. Rachel's hand rose to rest on her shoulder, causing the Cheerio to still and finally meet the other girl's eyes.

"Brittany. You never slushied me."

The blonde's brow creased and she felt herself blinking too fast. She was _not_ going to cry for Rachel Berry. She rubbed the towels at her eyes, squeaking when she felt sticky slushie coat her skin.

Eyes screwed shut, she reached blindly for Rachel's hand on her shoulder. _"I can't see!"_

"It doesn't hurt as bad as you think. It burns for approximately three seconds, but then you should be fine. Open your eyes, Britt."

The nickname fell from Rachel's lips like it was nothing. Like, Brittany thought, like Rachel calling Puck "Noah" without batting an eyelash.

Brittany opened her eyes.

Tears immediately welled up and this time she couldn't stop herself. She leaned her head on Rachel Berry's shoulder and cried her eyes out.

Because this was sad, okay?

* * *

She could feel Santana watching her, watching Rachel. The girls had arrived 15 minutes late to Glee together, Rachel in clothes she wasn't wearing and with damp hair and Brittany with red rings around her eyes. Brittany couldn't blame her friend's suspicion.

Rachel wasn't going to tell anyone she got slushied. Not that they couldn't tell. But she wasn't going to say anything.

Brittany wondered if she had ever said anything.

The Glee Club aimlessly stared at one another. Mr. Schue wasn't there to lead them anymore, so practice seemed pointless. Brittany found herself turning to Rachel, not surprised that the rest of club was already doing so.

"Rachel," Artie began. "What should we be doing?"

Rachel's head rose. "Practicing." She looked for a moment like she was going to stand, but then she relaxed. "But what do you say to a free day?" At Artie's quirked eyebrow, she continued, "I know it's out of character, but quite frankly I don't feel like interacting with you today."

Brittany felt something in her chest seize up. Rachel _loved_ to hang out with Glee, she _loved_ showing off, she _loved_ it so much it was one of the things that made her so very annoying.

But Rachel was standing. "Apparently I don't feel like being nice, either. I apologize, that was rude." She walked over to the piano and began playing on a few keys. Her face was strangely devoid of emotion and Brittany had to look away.

Mercedes and Artie looked offended. Kurt, weirdly, looked a little impressed. Santana, Mike, and Matt were already turning away – Brittany heard her friend hiss "Man-hands" – while Tina was staring at Rachel, head tilted. Finn was gazing at Rachel, while Quinn glared at him, while Puck just seemed not to care and fiddled with a guitar. _Oh, Puck_.

Brittany stood without thinking, causing Quinn and Santana to look up. She bit her lip. Now that she was up, she didn't know quite what to do.

Her mouth twisted away from her teeth and into a determined frown. She stepped down and crossed one, two, three, Kurt, four chairs to the piano and stood in front of Rachel. She thought Kurt was staring again. She knew Mercedes and Artie were, because she could see them. She didn't care. Her mouth opened and her four-year-old-when-everything-was-simple self came out.

"You wanna be friends?"

She had seen Rachel get slushied. It was Krasowsky and some of his hockey freaks. Rachel hadn't even looked surprised; Rachel walked into with her chin high, head tossing. It was ten times more badass than anything Puck had ever pulled off. Rachel might be the strongest girl she'd ever met, but she was really alone.

"Pardon?"

Brittany knew she wasn't very smart and followed Quinn blindly and that she hadn't been very nice to Rachel either, slushie-free history or not. And she knew that her non-smartness and blindness led to her non-niceness, and she was sorry for that. And her mom had always said, "If you're feeling sorry for something, that's a big clue that you need to change it."

She could still change it, right?

"Friends?" she prompted. "You know? Sleepovers and secrets to the grave?"

Rachel's forehead creased and for one terrible moment Brittany thought she was going to say no. But then the smaller girl nodded and Brittany worked up a squeal. "Great! So shopping this Saturday?"

"Brittany," Rachel started, looking at her strangely. "_Sectionals_ is this Saturday."

"Really?" Brittany leaned back, thinking. _Oh my God. It really was!_ "Oh my God! It really is!"

She automatically looked back at Santana in amazement, but the darker girl's glare was so fierce she whipped back to Rachel, who appeared to be in an unspoken glare battle with Mercedes.

"Maybe the week after, then," Brittany cut in when Rachel's eyes narrowed dangerously. The brunette's face barely relaxed when she looked to the Cheerio and for the first time, Brittany saw how restrained Rachel Berry had become.

But then she softened and said, "Sure, Brittany. I would enjoy that."

And Brittany smiled. The grin she received in turn was amazing.

* * *

"What the ef are you doing?"

It secretly cracked Brittany up that Santana could fire off the dirtiest sexts to Puck without blinking but couldn't bring herself to drop the f-bomb.

"What?" Brittany asked her. It was getting really cold out and she had the feeling she was not going to want to have this conversation in a few minutes.

"'Do you wanna be friends?'" Santana quoted. "Are you six? And with Rachel Berry, of all people!"

"I'm friends with _Becky_ and you don't care," Brittany protested. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Oh, _please_. You are _not_ friends with that girl, Brittany. She's your pity case. That what this deal with Rachel Berry is, right? You feel bad for her."

Brittany jumped up and down a little. Her feet were going numb and she was _right_, this conversation was _awful_. Jealous Santana was the worst Santana there was. "I don't really think Rachel Berry wants people to feel bad for her. She just wants them to like her-"

"Well maybe if she wasn't such a freak-"

"So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna, you know, try to like her, be her friend. It's not that big of a deal," Brittany continued, voice growing in pitch.

Santana's hands flew to her hips. _**Uh-oh**_. She was wrong. Bitchy Santana was the worst there was. "It _is_ a big deal, Brittany! She's a loser, she's Man-hands, you threw her lipstick _in the toilet_! You think being buddy-buddy is going to change any of that?"

Brittany was actually quite terrified that it wasn't. And she hated Santana for a second, for calling her out like that. She was _trying_. Unlike anybody else in Glee. And after all Rachel did for them simply by being there and believing in them when they were all halfway to Lima Loserhood, she deserved someone to try _for her_ once, didn't she?

"What_ever_, Santana." The dark-haired girl actually took a step back at that. Brittany had never been less than over-enthusiastic when it came to Santana. "I'm gonna try, okay? And if you were my best friend like I'm so sure you are, San, you'd help me out."

"And in turn, help out Man-hands? I don't think so."

Brittany clenched her fists. "I said whatever, San." She turned. She was cold and this conversation was making her sick and she was now so far on Team Rachel (_what kinda cheer goes with __**that**__, anyway_) she feared for her sanity. "But get over it, okay? Whatever you thinks wrong with her is what it is, and it's like, not gonna change, okay? Unless you do something to change it."

_Jesus Lord Almighty_, she thought, _I just said something profound_.

"Rachel Berry's gonna be my friend, San. Like, _deal_, okay?"

And with that, she walked away from her best friend.

So, yeah, she was gonna be Crazy's bestest friend. And so help her God, so was the rest of Glee by the time she was done.


	2. Definition: Trying

**Thanks for all the people who reviewed. I like, love you guys. BTW, have you ever noticed that if you disregard the fact that it's Britney Spears singing the song and she's completely different from Rachel, the lyrics to Britney's song "Circus" are a scarily accurate description of the one, the only Rachel Berry? Kinda cracked me up.**

* * *

Brittany hoped Rachel Berry didn't notice she was staring at her. She had assumed the position: leaned against Santana's locker, one foot crossed over the other, one finger twirling her hair, head tilted, mouth open. It meant she was thinking and, for most people, it was a rare sight.

"Move, Brittany," Santana hissed from behind her. "And stop checking out Man-hands."

_Crap_. She forgot. The blonde rolled her eyes. She was gonna have to sort out this mess her friend sooner or later. She just wanted it to be later…after San had taken a Midol.

She pushed off the Latina's locker and headed across the hall. Rachel smiled hesitantly when she saw her, then got on her tiptoes and looked over the Cheerio's shoulder.

"You didn't happen to see anybody with a slushie, did you?" The flash of panic on Rachel's face would've been halfway funny if not for the genuine fear in her eyes. An overwhelming pressure that felt a lot like guilt seemed to pull down at Brittany's shoulders. _God, they're all right, I'm so dumb, I never noticed..._

She was horrified when tears began to form at the corners of her eyes and she rolled them quickly. "Nah. I mean, there was a hockey game and the baseball boys are like, always broke, so we're safe for today."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. _"We?"_

"Yeah," Brittany began, shutting Rachel's locker and linking arms with her. "We."

Rachel grinned. "The only one who's ever been brave enough to walk down a hall with me is Noah. When I asked him why he said 'No one would question my badassedness.'" Her Puck impersonation was scarily accurate and both girls giggled. Brittany noticed several people staring and tried her hardest not to be embarrassed. She was here, she was trying, and that's what was important.

Rachel stopped suddenly. Brittany nearly tripped. The smaller girl turned to face Brittany but would not meet her eyes.

"Then someone threw a slushie in his face," she said softly. Brittany gaped. Someone slushied _**Noah Puckerman**_? Rachel noticed the blonde's astonishment and nodded sadly. "It was because he was walking down the hall with _me_. Like you are. Why are you doing this? Don't misunderstand me, I appreciate it, but this is somewhat damaging to your reputation." A pause, and her brown eyes narrowed slightly. "And if I'm not mistaken, you used to gleefully throw my makeup in the toilet and deface my pictures. So why?"

Brittany was not gonna let Rachel prove Santana right. Plus, this was something she needed to do like, a long time ago. She took a deep breath and looked everywhere but Rachel. "Because I'm sorry."

After a long pause, she glanced back down. That eyebrow was up again and Rachel looked amused. "That seemed to be incredibly tiring; do you need to lie down?"

Brittany snorted. Oh, sarcasm. She was gonna have to remember Rachel knew how to use it so she wouldn't be surprised next time. "C'mon," she said, dragging on Rachel's arm again. "I really am sorry, you know. For everything me and Quinn and Santana did-"

"Quinn and Santana will have to apologize themselves," Rachel interrupted, that hard edge from yesterday creeping into her voice. Brittany nodded slowly.

"Whatev. What I'm trying to say – you talk like, a lot, Rachel – is that I won't do that anymore, okay? And I'll try to stop the other Cheerios."

"This is my first period," Rachel said, stopping abruptly again in front of a door. The bell rang. "And you're going to be late."

Brittany did her patent eye roll. "_Puh_-lease. I'm a Cheerio. I'm never late."

Rachel tried really hard to smile at that. Brittany frowned, feeling instantly horrible. "God, this is _hard_!" She finally burst. Rachel's head dropped. The tardy bell rang over the silence.

"And now _you're_ late!" Brittany couldn't be more furious with herself. "_**Sorry**_, Rache." She turned and walked away before she could say anything else that would be completely hurtful.

"Brittany?"

She stopped, not daring to turn around.

"Thank you. For trying." And then a door opened and slammed. Brittany grinned. She'd have to hug that girl in Glee.

* * *

"_Like a rainbow…"_ Tina held the note until the others' faded out. Brittany smiled at those closest to her, Finn and Santana. _God_, she really loved this stuff.

Rachel hopped off her stool, practically bouncing and beaming. Initially, she had been in the line with the rest of them, but Mike had complained that he couldn't sing to nobody and asked Rachel to be Mr. Schue. She did it with a surprising amount of reluctance. After awhile, Brittany realized it was because she wanted to stay part of the line, wanted to sing with the rest of them.

In the end, she caved, because Mike had asked so sweetly. _That boy._ Now she was walking back to her stool. "That was really great, guys. Mr. Schue would be proud."

A few muttered thanks and one very enthusiastic one from Finn and the group started to move. Rachel sat down, watching idly as the club dispersed. Brittany's English teacher had described the word wistful today – longing and sadness with a touch of hope – and Brittany decided that was the expression on her friend's face as she watched Mercedes walk out with Kurt and Finn goof off with Puck, Quinn tucked under one arm. Brittany's sigh wiped away her smile and she began to walk towards the lonely girl when Tina appeared, standing nervously by Rachel.

"Did I really do okay?"

Rachel's smile brightened a little. "You were perfect, Tina. I believe that's the best you've ever sang."

"Really?" Tina asked. "Are you sure?"

The smaller girl looked confused. "Do you want me to criticize you?"

"No, no!" Tina said quickly. "It's just that normally, you would. You know, keys and notes and stuff…" She trailed off as Rachel's eyes got larger and her smile got smaller.

"Oh…I'm…sorry about that."

"About what?" Now Tina looked confused.

"About the whole _Tonight_ debacle," Rachel answered. Brittany admired her ability to look Tina straight in the eye as she apologized. "I was tactless. I apologize. Your voice is very good, Tina, and I shouldn't have acted the way I did."

Tina looked completely shell-shocked. Brittany, on the other hand, was internally dancing. Go Rachel with the internal growth!

Rachel slid off her stool, looked sideways at Tina, who hadn't moved and who's mouth was slightly ajar, glanced at Brittany, who gave her a thumbs-up, then back. "Um. Tina?"

The Asian girl started, staring at Rachel as if she were seeing her for the first time. Rachel looked the most apprehensive Brittany imagined she could look as she waited for Tina to speak.

"It's alright," Tina finally managed. "What you did. I…I forgive you, Rachel, don't worry about it."

"Thank you," Rachel murmured, the shyest and prettiest smile Brittany had ever seen spreading across her face. Tina lurched forward and wrapped her arms around the Jewish girl's shoulders then let go just as quickly, scurrying off before Rachel could respond.

Shaking with laughter, Brittany crossed the stage to her new favorite person, who was staring, amazed, after Tina. "Did I miss something?" Rachel asked. Brittany giggled.

"You're like, kinda adorable, did you know that?" Rachel looked at her, even more confused, which only made Brittany laugh harder. She stepped forward and mimicked Tina's actions earlier, arms circling Rachel's shoulders. And after a moment, Rachel hugged her back.

Brittany squeezed her a little before letting go, inspiration hitting her. It happened rarely, so when it did, Britt paid attention. "So what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Vast amounts of nothing," Rachel answered with a sigh, walking to the front of the stage.

"Well, tell Nothing you'll have to cancel!" Brittany declared, clapping her hands. "You're coming to my house to watch and movie." _And to see what you look like with mascara._

Rachel shouldered her over-packed backpack. Brittany knew it was so large because she had an extra change of clothes in there, and Brittany knew she had an extra change of clothes in there because the popular crowd – which Brittany was very a part of - had been drenching her with weekly slushie facial for two years, so if Rachel couldn't quite mask the suspicion on her face, Brittany couldn't blame her.

"What movie?"

Brittany thought for a moment, then came up with another totally awesome idea. "_Mean Girls_. Ever seen it?"

Rachel shook her head. She still looked too serious to be talking about a girls' night, so Brittany asked what was wrong. Rachel waved a dismissive hand.

"Seriously, what is it?" Brittany pressed, following Rachel as she headed out of the auditorium. "Rachel," her tone was completely serious. "Is this too much, too soon?"

Rachel stopped dead at that. Her shoulders began to shake and Brittany internally groaned. What had she said this time?

But when Rachel turned she was grinning. "No, Britt," she said in a somewhat choked voice. "It's fine. What time do you want me over?"

"Seven?"

"That sounds great," Rachel said, not even bothering to keep fighting her giggling. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home so I'll know where it is. Daddy let me borrow his car today."

Brittany shook her head. "That's okay, I always get a ride from Santana." Rachel frowned, opening the doors and stepping out into the parking lot.

"Santana left, Brittany."

She stepped out beside the brunette. She was right. Santana's car wasn't there. She had left her.

* * *

"Santana? Santana! Pick up the damn phone, San, I wanna yell at you!"

But all she got was a beep. Brittany looked at the phone in disgust. Santana always had her phone with her and she never failed to pick up when Brittany called. She fired off a quick text to Quinn – _San w/ u?_ – and then called Mike.

"Hey, B, what's up?" Mike always sounded so happy whenever she called. Her spirits lifted a little.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" Brittany blurted out. "Being friends with Rachel?"

Mike snorted. "You're trying to be friends with Rachel Berry? Why? I heard you walked down the hall arm and arm with her. I didn't believe it."

"Well, I did," Brittany snapped, her previous anger coming back in full force. "I've done a lotta crappy things to her in the past and she didn't deserve like, any of it, okay?"

"Okay, B," Mike said soothingly. "Chill. It just weird, okay?"

Brittany took a few, deep breaths. She had never gotten this angry so many times in a week before. "Sorry," she apologized. "So…what do you think of her?"

"Rachel?" Mike said. Brittany rolled her eyes.

"No, RuPaul."

Mike muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'same thing' then sighed. His next words sounded very strained, and he talk very slowly, as if he was unsure. "I think Rachel's really…um, intense. But she seems like...nice, but completely annoying. I don't know, Brittany, me and Rachel don't really talk." All of the sudden he laughed. "Puck was once like 'she makes me wanna light myself on fire.' I mean, 'cause she is _really annoying_, B."

"Yeah, you said that," Brittany said, irritated. Then she sighed. "Santana's really angry."

"Well, San really hates Rachel," Mike offered.

Brittany threw her free hand in the air. "She doesn't even know Rachel. She just hates her because Rachel isn't scared of her and doesn't care what anyone thinks."

"Didn't you hate her for the exact same reason?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, but that's like, dumb, Mike!" Brittany shouted.

"Would you stop _yelling_ at me? _I get it_, Brittany. I get that you feel bad and stuff and you need to make it up to her, but you were drawing all over her yearbook pictures a week ago and now you wanna be her best friend?"

"She needs one! She needs somebody! She's done a lot for us, okay? She like, forgave me and Puck and she doesn't hate Quinn, which is like, _**amazing**_, and she's nice to Kurt even though he and the Gleeks make fun of her like all the time-"

"And you don't think she deserves some of that?" Mike finally exploded, silencing Brittany. "She acts like she's better than the rest of us, just because she's got all that talent and she's _not_, okay, Brittany, she's _not_ whatever you're thinking she is. She's annoying and hurtful, and I get that like, half the time she doesn't mean to be, but she _is_, okay?"

Brittany felt tears prick her eyes. "I thought you said she was nice, Mike."

"I-I lied," Mike said after a moment. "To make you feel better, B, because you seem really invested in your whole Save Rachel campaign...But I don't think this is gonna work, Brittany. Just let it go. Tell Rachel you can't be friends anymore."

"I can't," Brittany insisted, wiping furiously at her eyes. "Do you know how much that will hurt her?"

"She gets slushie facials every week and doesn't care. I think she can handle losing someone she's only really known for two days."

"_You are so stupid!"_ Brittany shouted. "Are you really that dumb? You think she doesn't care? People are throwing slushies in her face, of course she cares! You think she doesn't realize that people hate her, you think she isn't trying to change? Am I the only one who noticed that she treats us like we're her friends, how much she believes in us?"

"Brittany-"

"_**No**_. Rachel is annoying, and maybe she's done some things that were…tactless, that's what she said. And she thinks she's the best thing since ever, but she's trying to be a team player. She's _trying_, and I'm _trying_, and I don't understand why we're the only ones."

By this point she was babbling and tears were pouring down her face and she really needed a hug from Santana _only Santana isn't talking to me_. A sob erupted from her, the line silent. She wasn't sure if Mike had hung up on her and she didn't care. She didn't understand why doing the right thing had to be so hard.

"Brittany, please don't cry." Mike's voice was soft.

"Too late," Brittany spat, shocked the amount of venom in her voice. "Goodbye, Mike. And please don't talk to me until you get a..a..whatever the hell Jiminy is."

She pressed the end call button with one shaking finger and sat down heavily on her bed. Her shoulders were shaking like crazy and her hand was fisted over her mouth. The tears just would not _stop_. If this was what it was gonna be like, maybe she _should_ give up on Rachel. If it made Santana hate her and made Mike act like an asshole and made everyone else stare at her like she was crazy, maybe helping out Rachel wasn't worth it.

She scrolled down through her phonebook to the newest number and pressed dial. Rachel picked up on the third ring.

"Rachel Berry speaking."

An involuntary giggle escaped Brittany. Did she answer like that for everyone? Even Finn? "Hi, Rachel, it's Brittany."

"Oh. Hi. Are you alright? You sound a little sad, Britt."

And there it was. _**Britt**_. _That was why it's worth it, right there_, Brittany thought. Because Rachel Berry gave her a nickname the first time they ever spoke. Brittany swallowed past the lump in her throat and wiped away the last of her tears.

"No, I'm fine. It's just, um…I was having a little trouble on one of my…math problems! Yes, math problems, and I was wondering if you could help me out, cause you're like, really smart, Rache. Unless you're like, busy," Brittany tacked on the last part as she scrambled to find her rarely-used algebra book.

She could practically hear the smile in Rachel's voice when she responded. "No, I'm currently unoccupied. I'd be glad to help. What problem is it?"

Brittany flung open her backpack, ripped out her book, and flipped it open to the chapter the sophomores were currently studying. It looked like a bunch of gibberish. "Um…all of them?"

After what sounded like a lot of muffled laughter, Rachel finally said, "Okay, I'll walk you through it. The first thing you absolutely need to know…"

Brittany settled back on her bed, book in her lap, smiling softly as Rachel patiently explained the chapter.

_It's worth it._


	3. Definition: Strength

**Okay, so the finale was baller. Unfortunately, mine won't be like it. Love me anyway!**

**Few things to bear in mind while you read this: I firmly believe that Britt, Santana, and Quinn watching **_**Gossip Girl**_** together. Plus, I have a best friend named Brittany and I call her 'B' all the time.**

**Also: I adore Noah Puckerman. I just think that not a lot of other people do.**

* * *

"Did you remember your permission slip?"

Brittany looked up from her Biology book, rolling her eyes. "Kinda hard not to when you stick it in my purse last night. Thanks, Rachel."

The brunette grinned, taking a seat beside Brittany. The study hall was almost completely empty this early in the morning.

"My mom would not stop talking about you, bee tee dub," Brittany informed her. Last night's girl's night was awesome. Rachel had enjoyed _Mean Girls_ more than Brittany expected, though the laugh she gave when Regina got hit by the bus was a little disturbing. Brittany had introduced Rachel to the song "Tik Tok" and they spent half the night dancing like idiots to it; her mom was so impressed by Rachel's manners she didn't even yell at them to keep it down. She had even convinced Rachel to play dress up, and the girl was kinda hot under all that divatude.

School before that…not so much. Santana was ignoring her, she was ignoring Mike, people kept staring at her, and Rachel got slushied _again_. God, it was awful. Glee had been even worse: Quinn looked like she was about to break down and Finn was snippy, which made Rachel snappy, which made everyone else straight-up pissed. They still managed to perform "Proud Mary" without a hitch, though.

Rachel began singing "Tik Tok" under her breath and Brittany felt her mouth curve up, putting yesterday behind her. She had wanted to be friends with Rachel Berry because she felt like the girl need one and she needed to right some wrongs, but she was slowly realizing that Rachel was sorta awesome once you got to know her.

"Hey, guys. Why are you here so _early_?"

Both girls looked up simultaneously. Tina was lowering her bag on the table, face expectant.

"Hi, Tina," Rachel greeted brightly. Brittany just waved. Mornings: not her deal. "I was just about to go over the Biology notes with Britt."

"Oh," Tina replied, sitting in the seat across from Rachel. A silence fell over them as Rachel pulled out her own Biology notes. Brittany snorted at the neat, detailed writing. Only Rachel could pay attention when Mrs. Forbes talked. Rachel was just about to begin when Tina leaned forward. "Do you think you could help me, too? Bio is _so_ over my head."

Rachel paused mid-action to stare at Tina, who shifted uncomfortably under the soprano's gaze. Finally Rachel blinked and smiled. "Sure. Just pull your chair on the other side of me and I can show both of you at once."

Tina thanked her and began to move her chair. Rachel turned to Brittany, unable to fight a smile. Brittany nudged her lightly, mouth forming an almost identical grin.

Tina settled down and Rachel spread out her papers, beginning to explain each concept step-by-step. The three stayed like that until the bell rang for first period.

"You are amazing," Brittany told Rachel as they gathered their books. "I already feel, like, ten times smarter."

Rachel laughed. "Thank, Britt. Did it help _you_, Tina?"

"Well, Bio is still an epic fail but I should be able to somewhat understand Forbes today. Thanks, Rachel." She shifted a little on her feet as Rachel responded in turn, then said: "You think we could make this a weekly thing? I know you're _really_ good at this and I _really_ need help."

"I'd love to," Rachel said immediately. "Every Tuesday or something like that?"

Tina nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Thanks. Again."

Rachel smiled widely and followed Brittany out into the hallway. When the blonde knew Tina couldn't see, she whirled and highfived Rachel. "Look at that! She didn't use the word annoying the whole time!"

Rachel giggled. "It's so cool to have normal conversations with people!" Which was such a weird sentence that Brittany completely lost it.

She stopped when Rachel paled a little bit, looking at something way over Brittany's shoulder. She turned. "Oh, hey, Finn."

"Hi, Brittany," the lanky teen said automatically. "Can I borrow Rachel for a second?"

"Ask her," Brittany said with a shrug. Finn looked at Rachel expectantly. The brunette just stared back for a moment, looking as if she was trying to read something in Finn's tired blue eyes, then sighed.

"You have until we reach my first period. I'll talk to you later, Britt."

Brittany waved as Finn led Rachel off, then turned to walk in the other direction. She couldn't quite ignore the hurt in Mike's eyes as she walked by without a hello.

* * *

She was in second period when the dam finally broke.

"So, _B._" Alma Waverly had to have the most obnoxious voice in the world. "What is the deal with you and the Gleek Queen?"

It got the attention of about half the class. Brittany fought the urge to sink in her seat.

"What are you talking about, Alma?"

Alma sneered. "You and Rachel Berry, skipping down the halls. A little beneath you, _B_."

"Shut up," Brittany snapped. "Rachel's cool. Deal with it."

Alma looked around at the class. "God, even the Cheerios, now? I mean, we all know how Berry got the football guys to join." She cast a contemptuous look at Mike, who was at the front of the class and showing great interest in the SMARTboard. "Did she do the same for you, _B_? Didn't know you swung that way."

Brittany flushed. God, were people really saying that? "I don't."

"Could've fooled me, how close you were sitting to each other this morning," Alma smiled as Brittany's face got even redder. "Even got another girl in on it. You must be having a lotta fun, _B_. Aw, look, she's blushing. Maybe this time, it's love!"

The kids around her snickered and Brittany instinctively tried to make herself smaller. The burning behind her eyes and on her cheeks was unbearable. She now knew how Rachel felt every day of her life.

And she couldn't take it.

She grabbed her bag and bolted out of the room, running for the nearest bathroom. She skidded to a stop when she saw Quinn at a sink, brushing her teeth.

"What are you doing here?" Brittany asked, blinking rapidly. Quinn made a face and spat, then rinsed out her mouth.

"Morning sickness is a bitch," she supplied after patting her mouth dry. "What are _you_ doing?"

Brittany avoided the other blonde's eyes as she walked towards the mirrors, hopping up to sit on one of the sinks. "Skipping."

Quinn snorted. "Must be nice, to have that stupid of a reason."

Brittany made a sympathetic noise. "Are you…okay? I haven't talked to you in awhile."

"You've been all wrapped up with Rachel," Quinn remarked. Her tone was light but her eyes flashed dangerously. "Santana's furious, by the way."

"Santana can get bent," Brittany said shortly. She had learned really quickly that being on Rachel's side automatically put her on the "wrong" side in terms of everyone else and she was sick and tired of this conversation. She really just wanted Quinn to leave so she could cry in peace.

"So, what, you're willingly hurting your best friend for the girl who keeps trying to steal my boyfriend? Nice, _B_."

_I'm banning that damn nickname._ Brittany rolled her eyes. "Whatev, Quinn. Can you go now?"

Quinn glared at her in the mirror. "You think you're gaining some high moral ground or something, don't you? All you're doing is making this worse. For you and for her."

"What part of 'go away' do you not get?" Brittany snapped, whipping her head around to look at Quinn directly. The two blondes stayed that way for a minute, Quinn's eyes widening a little when Brittany didn't immediately back down. After a pause, she looked away.

"She's going to destroy you. You'll be at the bottom with her."

The little piece of Brittany that was all Santana reared its ugly head and she smiled. "Well then, you can keep us company, _Q_."

Quinn recoiled as if she'd been slapped and she rushed out of the room. Brittany watched her go, feeling that monumental rush of guilt that was becoming sickeningly familiar.

The bell rang and Brittany clambered to her feet. She didn't want to go out there. She didn't want to face the whispers and the looks. She wasn't as brave as Rachel or as proud as Quinn and she just. couldn't. do. this.

So she headed to a stall, put the lid down, and curled up on it until the lunch bell rang.

* * *

She finally pulled herself together in time for Biology. She put her books down on the lab table she shared with Mike, not wanting to meet his eyes.

He waited until she was in her seat before asking if she was alright. She nodded to the table and he sighed.

"You were right." It came out as nearly a whispered. Mike's head snapped back around and his hand came to rest on hers.

"Don't say that. I wasn't. You…you really were. Listening to Alma, the things she said…_Shit_…if I was right, that makes her right, and she's _not_. About you, about Rachel, she's all wrong, and you can't listen to a word she says, alright?" He waited until she nodded before continuing. "When I say I _get_ it, this time I really do. I get why you're helping Rachel now. I also think you're the most amazing girl I know for trying. And…I'm gonna try, too."

If she hadn't cried so much in the past three hours, she would definitely be bawling now. "Really?"

"Really," Mike said, grinning. "You, me, and Rachel Berry. We're gonna run this shit!"

And all Brittany could think was that Rachel really wouldn't approve and she laughed, causing a few tears to escape. Mike noticed and sobered a little.

"I'm really, really sorry, Brittany."

She calmed down and smiled softly at him before leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. His skin grew hot under her lips and she pulled away. "I forgive you."

Mike smiled goofily, eyes completely lit up. For a moment, he was the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen.

They stayed like that, staring and grinning at each other, until someone cleared their throat. Mrs. Forbes was standing over them, two papers in hand, glaring.

"Pop quiz," she hissed, nearly throwing the papers down. "You have five minutes."

Brittany and Mike scrambled for pencils. She looked down at the first question, then giggled.

_Thank you, Rachel_.

* * *

Rachel was chatting to Tina when Brittany arrived at Glee. Grinning, she handed over her permission slip to Rachel, who already had the rest clutched in her hand. "What's up?"

Rachel glanced sharply at her, then turned to Tina. "Excuse me for a moment."

Tina gave a wave as Rachel steered Brittany to the corner of the room.

"Someone said you spent three periods crying in the bathroom. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Brittany responded mechanically. When Rachel's eyebrow rose, she relented. "I'm not as strong as you, okay? When people talk about me, I listen."

Rachel's face fell. "I knew this would happen. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it was like…really hard," Brittany admitted. "I have no idea how you do it. But I'm not gonna let what others think about me control who I talk to. I mean, that's kinda stupid, you know? I want to be my own person." She looked over Rachel right at Santana. The dark-skinned girl met her eyes steadily, then, to Brittany's surprise, nodded.

Rachel's hand came to rest on her upper arm. "The words sound suspiciously like that poster outside of Miss Pillsbury's office, but it's the thought that counts. Thank you."

"Nah," Brittany said, grabbing Rachel's hands and going over to the chairs. "Thank _you_."

It was so corny that they both giggled, attracting Quinn and Mercedes' glares and Artie's complete bewilderment. Tina came to sit behind them, asking Rachel what song they were practicing today.

"Let's wait until everyone gets here – oh, here they are," Rachel cut herself off as the football boys filed in. Beside her, Brittany could feel her body relax when Finn appeared behind Puck.

Brittany had tried to ask Rachel about her deal with Finn last night, but the brunette clammed up. Whatever had been between them yesterday was gone today, though, judging by the smiles they gave one another when Finn passed Rachel to sit by Quinn.

Mike winked exaggeratedly and flopped down beside Rachel. She looked at him a little strangely but didn't say anything. Brittany and Mike leaned back to grin at one another, prompting an eyebrow lift from Matt and a smirk from Puck. When Brittany did a double take, his smirk widened and he nodded.

What was with all these nods she was getting? Brittany turned away from the tackler with a snap of her head, focusing on Rachel, who was focusing about ten times more intensely on a sheet of paper.

"Trying to burn a hole in it, Rachel?" Mike joked. Rachel started, then realizing who spoke looked at Brittany and tilted her head like, _Why is your boyfriend speaking to me?_

Brittany widened her eyes innocently. Rachel got this close to rolling her eyes but stopped herself and stood.

"We need to practice 'Don't Stop Believing,' but, um, last time Quinn had the lead and I don't believe it would best, in her present-"

Quinn held up her hands. "Oh, trust me, the part's yours. I am never spinning like that _again_."

Rachel nodded at her, then ordered everyone to get up and into their places. It was funny and kinda sad that for all they talked crap about her, the Glee Club was more than willing to let Rachel boss them around.

_Maybe we're bipolar._

They took their places. Finn nudged Rachel, making her giggle, and Mike rolled his eyes at Brittany. Quinn's face was a frown away from full-out Queen B bitchface.

The beat started._ "Dah, dah, dah, dah…"_

_"Seen her in a smoky room…"_ Brittany couldn't help but grin. Finn and Rachel were so cute and this song was so awesome-

Then Quinn fell.

It wasn't in slow motion. They were making one of the turns while Finn twirled Rachel and then Quinn was going down. Santana gave a cross between a squeal and a scream and the music screeched to a halt.

Brittany gaped at her friend on the floor, then at Rachel. Rachel would know what to do. The diva's gaze was sliding, past Finn, past Kurt with his hand over his mouth, past San rushing to Quinn, then stopped suddenly, growing a little more focused and a little more scared. Brittany looked.

Puck was terrified. That much was obvious. He looked like he really wanted to run to Quinn, but something was holding him back. "Quinn," he finally choked out. "Are you…"

"I'm fine," Quinn spat, shutting him down with the fiercest glare Brittany had ever seen her give. And alarms that made no sense started going off in her head.

"Quinn!" Finn, finally, was rushing forward. "Are you okay?" And in one movement he swooped down and flat-out picked her up, wedding-style.

"Do you need to go home?" Rachel cut in. Quinn shook her head, smiling up at Finn. Rachel nodded and Brittany caught her shoot off a fleeting glance to Puck. "We'll find a way so you won't have to spin. At all."

Quinn waved a hand. "The floor was slick. I'm fine. You can put me down, Finn, I'm okay."

Finn grinned, squeezing her. "What if I don't wanna put you down, huh?"

Quinn laughed and Brittany couldn't help herself. She turned to Puck, who's hands were in fists. He looked angrier than he had a right to be, in her opinion.

_Unless_…something on the edge of her mind…_unless_...

His eyes went from Quinn to her and he almost looked shocked at her staring. Then he shook his head and turned away.

That seemed to break the spell for Rachel. "Alright!" she said, clapping her hands and getting everyone's attention. "Let's take it from the top!"

The tiny diva was smiling as she directed everyone but Brittany could see the strain and she could practically hear the gears going in Rachel's constant-Overdrive brain.

"Dah, dah, dah, dah…"

And it went on and on and on and on.

* * *

Rachel said goodbye very distractedly. She appeared to be in deep concentration even as her eyes moved rapidly from Puck to Quinn and finally, to Finn.

"See you tomorrow, Rache!" The quarterback called. She raised her hand halfheartedly, nodded to Brittany, then headed off to her Daddy's car.

"Bye, Rachel," Mike called at the last moment. After she waved, he turned to Brittany. "Alright, let's move, Cheerio. It's nipply out here."

Brittany pulled a face. "That's so gross, Mike."

She was about to walk down the steps to the parking lot with him when the doors burst open and Tina, Mercedes, Kurt, and Artie emerged, whispering very urgently. They stopped dead when they saw Mike and Brittany.

"Hey, guys," Tina said nervously. "What's up?"

"I don't know," Mike said slowly. "What's up with you?" When they didn't respond he frowned. "Friends don't keep secrets, you know?"

Kurt scoffed. "You threw me in a dumpster. We're not friends."

"So there is a secret!"

Brittany started as panic crept into Kurt's face. "What is it? Come on, tell us, we won't blab or whatever."

"Not even to Rachel?" Mercedes asked snidely. Brittany rolled her eyes and thought hard.

"So it's a secret that Rachel can't know…"

"Maybe it's about Sectionals!" Mike yelled. Brittany turned to him excitedly.

"Or _maybe_ it's about Finn!"

"Maybe _Cabaret_'s casting again?"

"Or _maybe_-"

"It's Puck!" Tina yelled. She realized she had spoken and clapped a hand over her mouth. Brittany felt a few puzzle pieces click together in her head and she did not like the picture it was making.

"It's about Puck?" Mike was saying. "Why would Rachel care about that? I mean, they dated but…although he was really weird today, you know, straight-up freaking out over Quinn."

_**"Holy shit."**_

They all turned to face Brittany at these words, Mike looking confused and original Gleeks resigned. Brittany looked at them. "I'm not right, am I?"

Kurt seemed to just give up about then. "You mean about Puck being the father of Quinn's baby, not Finn? No, you're right on the mark for that one, B."

Mike actually took a step back. "Puck's the baby daddy? No way, no way, man, you got something wrong, he was only worried about her for _Finn_-"

Mercedes held up a hand. "Puck told me himself. And you _saw_ how he acted, Mike." Mike continued to shake his head and she sighed, turning her fixed stare on Brittany. "Do you get it, now, why we really, really, under any circumstances, _**cannot tell Rachel**_? She'll tell Finn and then our chances at Sectionals will be down the drain."

Brittany nodded mechanically. _No wonder Quinn's so scared, I'd be scared, too, if Puck was the father of my baby… _"I won't tell her."

The Gleeks visibly relaxed. "Thank you," Mercedes said softly. "I know it seems wrong, not telling Finn, but it's for the best."

Brittany just kept nodding while they filed past her. Her mind was weirdly blank. All this time, Quinn had been lying, to her best friends, to her boyfriend, her parents…Brittany could see why she did it – if she had to choose a baby daddy it'd be Finn over Puck any day – but _still_. Letting Finn suffer for his best friend's mistake? That was wrong.

"After Sectionals," Brittany muttered as they headed to Mike's truck. "We'll have to tell him."

Mike nodded mutely, opening the passenger door and helping her in. "What about Rachel?"

"We can't tell her," Brittany said adamantly. "She'll tell Finn. I mean, it'll break him and Quinn up and plus she has a crazy set of morals. She'd _have_ to tell him."

Mike grimaced and headed over to his side. The engine started. The drive was too quiet, gave her too much time to think.

Her phone buzzed. Rachel had sent her a text message. Brittany sighed. She couldn't lie to her right now.

She pressed delete.


	4. Definition: Outside

**Hey. My computer decided to be a complete bitch to this chapter and it took forever but here it is. **

**I'd like to just go ahead and say that I'm a Puckleberry. And I adore FinnandQuinn (I don't know what they're called.) However, this story's gonna go however I feel would be natural for Brittany and Rachel at that point.**

**I also wanna ask if you guys would seriously mind me switching POVs in a chapter or two?**

* * *

"Really? He couldn't find anybody but Miss Pillsbury? Is she even capable of riding a school bus? She'll probably have to spray down the thing before we can get on!"

Brittany fought a giggle at Matt's bitching. It was totally distracting her from paying attention to Puck without seeming like it.

On the surface, he looked like normal Puck with the two settings: surly or smirking. Right now he was set to surly and staring down Quinn (the blonde was dutifully ignoring this, of course). Underneath all that though, he looked kinda ragged. The guy was all sorts of attractive but today he just looked like he'd been put through the wringer and it was interfering with her typical "Ignore Puck" policy.

Well, that, and the fact that he was the father of Quinn's baby.

She looked over at Quinn. She was laughing as Finn sang some really old Backstreet Boys song to her. She looked happier than Brittany had seen her in a really long time. It made her sad, because it was going to have to end. Finn couldn't go on like this; it just wasn't right.

She had struggled with this so much last night she had ended up calling Mike several times. He talked her through it every time, what was wrong, what was right, if they should interfere, if they shouldn't…

She looked for that comfort now. Mike was talking very animatedly to Rachel, hands flying and head nodding enthusiastically. For her part, Rachel was being a good sport, listening with equal enthusiasm while not completely hiding the fact that she was still weirded out that he was actually speaking to her. Tina was on Rachel's other side, chiming into the conversation whenever she had the chance, though Mike was pretty much dominating. He stopped and turned to look at her suddenly, as if he felt her staring, and smiled.

That was all she needed. She smiled back and walked over to the group, resisting the urge to put a comforting hand on Puck's shoulder when she passed.

"So…"

"We were talking about _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_," Mike said rapidly, before turning back to Rachel. "I'm telling you, man, you'll love it. Like, it got me to read Jane Austen…kinda. Anyway it's awesome and you've gotta read it. End of story."

Tina nodded her approval and Rachel just looked back and forth between the two. "…Okay."

Mike gave a smug smirk to Brittany and she could practically hear _"anything you can do I can do better"_ going his head. She rolled her eyes and squeezed into the space between his and Rachel's chairs.

"It was like, _really_ nice of you to let Mercedes have the solo," she told the smaller girl. "I mean, I know you love your solos."

"She sounded amazing," Rachel said simply. "She earned it." She sneaked a glance to Mercedes while she said this and smiled softly. She then leaned back and closed her eyes. "I really hate that song, though."

Tina laughed, patting Rachel's knee. "Don't ruin it."

The smile returned as Rachel opened her eyes to the ceiling. "So. 'Don't Stop Believing.' 'Proud Mary.' 'And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going.' Okay. We can do this."

Brittany ran the list over mentally while Rachel said it out loud. Coach Sylvester had asked for the set list last period and she was really bad at remembering things.

Tina's hand tightened on Rachel's knee a little and Mike said, "Dude. Of course we can do this. We're gonna own, Rache, don't worry."

Rachel tensed up a little at the nickname and Tina immediately let go, apologizing. Rachel waved it off. Brittany shot a look at Mike. It was one thing for Rachel, who'd never done anything to her, to call her "Britt." It was completely different for Mike, who'd participated in at least one slushie attack, to nickname Rachel.

_Who knew nicknames had rules, anyway?_

Rehearsal winded down – without any rehearsal (Rachel had walked in, said "free day," then plopped down next to Tina without another word)(Brittany was almost afraid she and Mike were a bad influence) – and they began packing up and filing out of the classroom.

"Wanna give me a ride?" Brittany asked Rachel. Rachel nodded into her bag as she dug for her keys. "Dad or Daddy's car?"

"Daddy's."

Brittany fought back a squeal. Daddy drove an Audi convertible and it was _awesome_.

"When am I going to meet these people anyway?" Brittany asked as she and Rachel made their way out to the parking lot after saying goodbye to Tina and Mike. Rachel shifted her books, looking a little uneasy.

"My dads are out of town often. There's not a substantial need for lawyers in Lima, so they usually take cases from the bigger cities – they're quite well-known, so cases aren't hard to find. As soon as they're back, though, you can have the full Berry-experience. I've never had anyone over to the house before; they'll be ecstatic."

"Great!" Brittany said brightly, even though that was one of the most depressing things she'd ever heard. But making Rachel smile was part of her job as self-made best friend, so it was an easy lie.

Rachel had, probably on accident, parked right next to Puck that morning, and he was getting in his broke-ass truck just as they arrived at the Audi. He rolled down the window as Rachel manually unlocked the door and whistled.

"Nice ride, Rache."

Brittany watched, but Rachel didn't tense up this time. She just smiled over her shoulder at the left tackle. "Thanks, Noah. It's Daddy's, he's letting me borrow it." A fleeting expression that Brittany didn't quite get passed over her face and she fully turned to Puck's car. "Noah?"

"What?"

Rachel opened her mouth and Brittany cut in. "Rachel, my mom's expecting me home like, now. I'm sorry, but can we go?"

Rachel turned slowly from Puck, breaking eye contact at the last possible second. "No, of course, it's fine. See you tomorrow, Noah."

Puck nodded to the back of Rachel's head, a puzzled look crossing his face before his eyes rose and locked with Brittany's, narrowing a little. After spending all practice staring at him, Brittany found she couldn't meet his eyes and looked determinedly at her hand on the door handle, pulling impatiently until Rachel unlocked it. She slid in as quickly as possible, grateful when she heard Puck's truck start noisily. Rachel entered a moment later when she had enough space to open the door. She started the car with an apologetic smile at Brittany.

"I'm sorry if that makes you late, I just…"

"It's fine," Brittany said, feeling stupid, stupid guilt begin to gnaw at her stomach. "Just drive, please."

* * *

"You're going to do great," Mr. Schue told them for the third time the next morning, trying hard to look like he wasn't crying and failing epically. "I have total faith in you."

"Thanks, Mr. Schue," Rachel said. She didn't sound nearly as nervous as she felt but Brittany could feel her shaking where their arms touched. This was probably also because it was cold and Rachel's pea coat just wasn't cutting it (Finn had offered his letterman jacket but Rachel shook her head after glancing at Quinn.)

Mr. Schue (tearfully) said goodbye and Miss Pillsbury ushered them onto the bus. After Artie was lifted in, Schue shut the door, waved one last time to Rachel, and then they were off.

It wasn't a long drive to whatever podunk town Sectionals was in, so Rachel and Brittany split some earbuds and turned up Rachel's iPod. The first song she turned to was "Tik Tok" and Brittany laughed. By the first chorus they started singing. By the second one they had gotten Tina, Kurt, and Mercedes to join in.

"Mike!" Rachel called out as the song slowed a little, bouncing in her seat. "Don't act like you don't know the words!"

The Asian boy looked completely thrown by Rachel talking to him, but then Santana of all people grabbed his hand, dragged him into the aisle, and started dancing.

_"Now the party don't start 'til I walk in…"_

The song was winding down and all twelve members were dancing all over the bus, singing at the top of their lungs (except for Finn and Puck who didn't know the words.) Quinn was being twirled by her boyfriend, Santana was mashed between Mike and Matt and laughing, Tina was rolling Artie along to the beat and Mercedes and Kurt had improvised the Single Ladies dance to fit the rhythm. Brittany had Rachel up and moving, twisting those hips like she'd been dancing all her life. Which, considering how super-driven Rachel was, she probably had. Brittany knew they were showing off, but she felt if the others saw Rachel having so much fun with her, they'd figure she could have that kind of fun with them. Plus, Rachel had this awesome laugh that made Brittany giggle along nonstop.

The beat ended and they all started cracking up like they didn't burst into song every day basically. Mike, practically dragging Santana, made his way back to them.

"Dude, that was awesome!" he said, kneeling in the seat in front of them. "Nobody told me you could move like that, Rachel!"

Rachel smiled, sitting down. "My dads encouraged me to learn all types of dancing. I've taken jazz, hip-hop, and ballet since I was three."

Mike whistled lowly. "You and B, two of kind. Me, I just kind of freestyle it, you know?"

"You should come to our dance class," Santana said quietly. They all turned to look at her and she shifted her feet. "Me and Brittany's. On Wednesdays. It's a lotta fun, you'd probably enjoy it."

Brittany couldn't do anything but gape at her. Fortunately Rachel had a bit more control over her brain cells and thanked her. Santana smiled shyly then turned to Brittany, who was lit up like a Christmas tree. _Santana was talking in her presence again_. So far, best morning possible. San's smile turned into a full-blown grin and she waved cutely before running off to the front of the bus. Mike rolled his eyes with a grin and followed her.

After the initial burst of excitement, the teens quieted down. Rachel and Brittany snuggled into the bus seat, trying to get warm. It took awhile, but Brittany noticed Rachel staring rather intently at Puck as he stared down Quinn some more. Rachel realized she'd caught and looked out the window.

"That's all he ever does now," she said quietly after a pause. "In class, at lunch, in Glee. He just stares at her and he looks _so sad_ all the time. I'm starting to worry, which I shouldn't, because he would hate that if he knew, but he's my friend whether he likes it or not." Brittany listening to her without comment, trying not to freak out when Rachel went on with: "I'm also beginning to think that maybe there's a reason for why he stares at Quinn – and Quinn's stomach – so much. And for why he looked so terrified on Thursday when she fell."

"He's probably in love with her," Brittany blurted. Rachel glanced back at her, then to Puck, her expression becoming very remote.

"Probably."

Puck looked over right at that moment, seeing Rachel staring. And then they just…_stayed_ like that, Rachel frowning in concentration, trying to read something, and Puck steadily smirking, refusing to be read. Brittany felt extremely awkward, sitting between them. After a very long moment, Rachel huffed and turned away, almost completely hiding her smile when he grinned triumphantly.

"And then sometimes," the brunette breathed to Brittany. "He smiles like _that_, and I think I just imagined the whole thing."

"Maybe," Brittany offered vaguely, sinking lower in her seat. This would all be over soon and all this pity for Puck would be over too, because Rachel would have to pick a side, and she was going to choose Finn.

* * *

She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

Sure, she liked the deaf kids. They were super nice for people who couldn't hear a thing she said, but they were completely murdering 'Don't Stop Believing'. Their song! And after watching those skanks from the reform school destroy Mercedes' beautiful ballad and 'Proud Mary', Brittany was close to tears. Hell, she was pretty sure Kurt was already crying.

The guy in front of them sniffled and Rachel threw her hands up the air, a disgusted noise coming from the back of her throat. She stood, turned to the rest of the club, and whisper-shouted, _"Meeting in the Green Room in five minutes!"_ Then she flounced out in true Rachel Berry fashion. Brittany looked at Santana, who shrugged, and they got up to follow her, the rest of the club filing out behind them.

They at least waited until they got to the room before freaking out. As soon as Matt shut the door behind them, Tina let out a shriek of frustration and collapsed on one of the overly-plush chairs. "Why does this shit always happen to us?"

Mercedes shook her head slowly as she took the other chair. Kurt, Quinn, and Finn took refuge on the couch while Puck went to stare moodily out the window. Artie wheeled himself into a corner where he proceeded to ram his chair into the wall repeatedly. At a look from Rachel, Matt went to stop him. Brittany perched on the desk with Mike and all at once they were all staring at Rachel, who, for the first time, looked completely lost.

"I just don't understand…" she said slowly. "Even if Coach Sylvester had the set list, it wouldn't have had Mercedes' solo on it. We only decided on that yesterday."

Kurt was already standing, pointing at Santana. "You gave it to her. She obviously set you and Brittany up as spies."

"Why would I do that?" Santana said, rolling her eyes, even as Quinn began nodding.

"I know that's true. Coach Sylvester asked us to spy when we first joined."

Santana stamped her foot. "I did not give her the set list, okay? Repeat this to anyone and I'll kill you _dead_ but…I like being in Glee Club. It's the best part of my day, okay?" She turned away from them sharply and went to sit in the chair by the wall where Rachel was leaning. "I wasn't going to mess that up."

Rachel looked down at her, mouth a little open, then smiled. "I believe you."

Santana nodded once, a barely there _thank-you_ falling from her lips. Brittany beamed, then remembered something.

"Coach asked me for the set list!" The others turned to her. "But…I didn't know what it was for."

"Aw, man, B!" Matt said. The rest just sighed and shook their heads. She felt terrible until Rachel clapped her hands and pushed herself off the wall.

"Well, what's done is done. We'll have to move past it now." Even Brittany frowned at that. How do you move past two other teams stealing your ideas? Rachel took one look at their expressions and rolled her eyes. "Stop that. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves. So this is terrible; we've been through terrible things before, and we perservered. We're here, aren't we?

"C'mon, you guys, we've practiced dozen of songs together. We'll just replace the songs. 'Don't Stop Believing' will now be…" she bit her lip, thinking.

"'Somebody to Love?' It's a real crowd-pleaser," Quinn suggested, and Rachel beamed at her.

"Of course, Quinn! And we'll replace Proud Mary with…" her voice trailed off again as she looked around.

"How about 'Lean On Me?'" Artie asked. "I mean, it's not really choreographed, but we can fix that in an hour."

"Sure we can," Rachel agreed. "Matt, Mike, Britt, Santana, you can work something out, right?"

Mike glanced to the other three. "It's gonna be choppy."

Rachel took a deep breath and released it. "I can tolerate choppy today." She bit her lip again, then crossed to Mercedes. "Do you have another song to perform?"

Mercedes had not spoken the entire time. Now she looked up and smiled sadly. "It's not gonna be as good as anything you can do."

"We agreed that you were going to sing the ballad, Mercedes…"

"We said I was going to sing 'And I'm Telling You.' Which I clearly can't. And let's face it, Rachel: you've got the best voice and the best chance of pulling this off."

"As much as it pains me to admit it – and it does - she's right," Kurt said from his space on the couch. "You're our star. If we're going to do this on the fly, you're the best diva for the job."

Rachel ignored him, smiling hesitantly. "...well, I do have something I've been working on since I was four."

Mercedes grinned and nodded. Finn, seeing that everything was cleared up, stood and clapped his hand. "Alright, let's get started." He headed over to Rachel and swept her into a giant bear hug, whispering something in her ear. She laughed and patted his back, pulling away, a light in her eyes that wasn't there before. She looked like she could take on the world with both hands tied and Brittany felt her spirits lifting. Looking around at the other kids steadily getting livelier, looking happier, borderline excited like before those teams cheated, Brittany smiled at Rachel. Cause she kinda pulled this one all by herself.

Rachel caught her eye and grinned back.

* * *

"Are you nervous?"

"Brittany!" Rachel whirled, brown hair flying. "You're supposed to be on the other side of the lobby."

"Whatev, it'll be fine, chill. So you're nervous?"

Rachel took another peek out into the auditorium. "Yes. No. A little."

Brittany grinned. "That's cool, Rachel. If you weren't a little bit nervous, then I'd be scared. Nerves are good; nice rush."

Rachel smiled distractedly over her shoulder. Brittany patted her arm and then moved to walk away.

"Brittany?"

"Wha-oomph!" Rachel launched herself into Brittany's arms and hugged her tightly. After the shock wore off, Brittany hugged her back. Mike and Finn, a few feet away, grinned at the two of them.

Rachel pulled away and said shakily, "Thank you for this week, for trying to get to know me. I'm very glad and thankful you did."

"Aw, Rache!" Brittany squealed, hugging her again. "You…I…ditto."

And they both laughed and pulled away and tried not to mess up their makeup by crying. And then the announcer called their team name and Rachel smiled once last time before facing the curtain.

A tune Brittany had never heard before started and Rachel ripped the curtain open.

_"Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter…"_

"_Brittany!" "__**B!**_" The boys hissed at her. She held up her hands and nodded, running off to her side of the stage. Puck, who was peeking out of the curtain, rolled his eyes when he saw her.

"I'm here, aren't I? When do we walk in?"

"Rachel made me look at the sheet music. I got it covered."

Brittany jerked her head in something like a nod, nervousness making her fingers clench. After a moment, she asked "How's she doing?"

Puck looked back at her and grinned. "She's awesome. You should see the look on those people's faces."

Brittany smiled back, forgetting for a second the mess Puck had helped create. Then he tensed, listening closely, and hissed "Get in line!"

They all stepped into place behind him and he threw open the curtains.

_"I'll beat my drum…"_

"Holy shit," she heard Matt mutter behind her as Rachel belted it out. The spotlights swung to them as they marched their way to the stage and a positively glowing Rachel.

_"I guess I didn't make it. Get ready for me love, cause I'm a comin'. I simply got march, my hearts a drummer, no!"_

They filed their way onto the stage and stepped into their places.

_"…is gonna rain on my paRAAAAAAADDDDE."_

Brittany didn't want to smile too wide as Rachel's voice slowly died away, but she could see that look in Rachel's eyes as she turned, the complete happiness that only something like this could've brought her. And Rachel deserved to be that happy.

Then the beat for 'Lean On Me' started. And it all became a bit of a blur.

The world didn't stop spinning until Rachel – with some serious help from Finn – was lifting the first place trophy above her head for the audience to see while New Directions completely lost it around her. Brittany did what she would've done if this had happened a week ago: she grabbed Quinn and Santana and hugged them tight. To her relief, the other girls didn't hesitate to squeal and hug her back.

"We did it, we won!" Quinn was yelling over and over, Santana nodding her head in agreement like a bobblehead. Brittany turned in time to be swept up in Mike's arms and spun in a large circle. Her scream was punctuated by giggles as her friends' faces blurred in front of her. When he finally put her down, the world was still spinning, so she hugged him until she could see straight.

The world fell into place. Tina was laughing up at Kurt while holding Artie's hand. Artie was high-fiving Puck with his other hand. Puck's free arm was around Matt's shoulders. Matt was pulling Santana close, and Santana was smiling at her and Mike. Mike was laughing at Finn and Quinn because her baby bump made their hug look a little strange. Quinn was glaring playfully back at Mike while her boyfriend reached out and high-fived Mercedes after she pulled away from hugging Kurt, who was smiling down at Tina. They had all, unconsciously, formed a circle, with Rachel of all people in the middle. She was smiling at all of them, this soft, beautiful smile that Brittany had only seen once or twice on her face. Brittany broke away from Mike and descended upon Rachel, hugging her fiercely.

"You were amazing!"

"You killed it!" Mike added, the others nodding in agreement. Rachel just smiled widely.

"Thank you. You all did so wonderful. I'm...so proud to be apart of your team."

Tina said "_Aww, Rachel!"_ and moved forward to wrap her arms around the smaller girl. The girls all giggled and the guys looked away like they didn't want to, too, and then Finn shouted "GROUP HUG!" It was immediately a huge huddle of arms and legs and trophy. Brittany hoped someone was taking a picture. She looked sideways at Rachel, who was firmly trapped between her and Kurt and Tina and Mike, and swore she saw tears.

* * *

It was safe to say that all warm and fuzzy feelings had disappeared by Monday. This was it. That circle from Saturday might not survive today. Or maybe Finn would be able to forgive them. Maybe Finn had already begun to suspect things and…okay, that was too much. But maybe things would all turn out to be okay.

She stopped in front of Mercedes' locker where the black diva and Kurt always met before fourth. "So who's going to tell him?"

They both turned slowly to her, looking between each other. "Tell who what?" Kurt finally asked.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Uh, Finn? About the fact that the baby isn-"

Kurt put a hand of her mouth. "Inside voice, Cheerio." He removed his hand and wiped it on his jeans. Brittany rolled her eyes again.

"Listen, B," Mercedes said. "We just won Sectionals. Can't this wait until-"

"NO!" Brittany shouted. Several people turned to stare at her, and then kept staring when they saw who she was talking to. Brittany glared back. "Nothing to see, move it along, okay?" When people began moving again, she rounded on the Gleeks. "We are not putting Finn through any more of this. He deserves to know the truth. So we are going to tell him. I'm asking which one of us will do it."

They looked completely shocked. She guessed this was because they hadn't heard Brittany say anything remotely intelligent, let alone forceful, the entire time they'd known her. After a long moment, Mercedes nodded. "Why don't you and Mike tell him? You're closer to him than we are." Kurt looked hurt at this, but quickly masked it with a nod.

"Fine," Brittany agreed. "Does Matt know? Or Santana? Does everybody know but those three and Rachel?"

"I don't know about Matt, but Santana figured it out a long time ago. Something about babysitting," Mercedes answered with a shrug.

"And she didn't tell me?" Brittany asked rhetorically. Kurt opened his mouth, probably to say something catty, but she was already walking off. This was a huge secret, and Santana hadn't said a thing. Granted, she hadn't told San either, but they were in a fight. Best friends weren't supposed to keep secrets from one another, especially ones about people important to them. If she would've known sooner, she wouldn't have gone off on Quinn in the bathroom last week, she wouldn't have dumped them for Rachel…

_Rachel_.

"She's gonna hate me," Brittany said out loud.

"Who is?"

Brittany nearly jumped out of her skin. Rachel was walking right alongside her.

"Creeper!" Brittany said, pointing at her. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to know that you talk to yourself," Rachel said, clearly amused. "You get to be my slushie guard for this period. I used Mike last time. He was not amused."

"Slushie guard?"

"I noticed last week that whenever you or Finn walked me to a class I didn't get slushied. I normally would protest using someone in this manner but I forgot my spare set of clothes today so I am in desperate need of your services."

Brittany shrugged. "It's cool, Rache. Just don't call it services, I feel like a hooker."

Rachel giggled, which only made Brittany feel worse. After a long, silent walk to Rachel's fifth period, Brittany stopped her. "I need to tell you something."

Rachel immediately got her game face on, but just as quickly lost it, looking at something over Brittany's shoulder. "Are you coming to class?"

Puck appeared next to her and she nearly lost it again. He looked aggravated. "Nurse isn't there today. What kinda nurse gets sick?"

"There was no replacement?" Rachel asked, looking alarmed.

"Uh, yeah, that creepy old librarian. Not like I could sleep with her staring me down like that. I figure even algebra is better than that," Puck said, crossing his arms with a look in his eyes that dared Rachel to comment. She just bit her upturned lips and turned to Brittany.

"I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Um, but…"

"'Bye, B," Puck said abruptly, lightly pushing Rachel into the classroom. "Stop complaining, Rache, you can see her again in an hour. You're gonna help me get back into Fletcher's good graces…"

The door slammed in her face and Brittany stepped back. She and Rachel had different lunch periods and they didn't see each other for the rest of the day. How was she going to tell her before Glee?

She went on in this panic mode until Biology, where she told Mike about their mission. The calm way he took it completely chilled her out.

"We're cleaning out our lockers today. I'll just get Finn to stay behind once Puck leaves and I'll tell him. You don't have to worry about a thing."

"Really?" Brittany asked. When Mike nodded, she sighed. "I love you."

"Right back atcha, B."

* * *

"Where are Mike and Finn?" Rachel asked at 3:31.

Matt waved his hand. "Chill, Berry, they're only a minute late. Mike needed Finn's help with something."

"What in the world could he need _Finn's_ help for?" Santana asked, eliciting a 'hey!' from Quinn. Rachel gave Matt a look and flounced over to the seat between Brittany and Mercedes. Once she was seated, Miss Pillsbury cleared her throat.

"I'm happy to tell you that Mr. Schuester is being reinstated as Glee Club sponsor, in light of recent discoveries about how exactly those other schools got their hands on your set list."

"So that's why Coach wasn't at practice today," Santana said to Brittany over the other kids cheering. Brittany just nodded, never taking her eyes off the door.

"Is something wrong?" Rachel, on her other side, asked lowly, still clapping. "You seem worried."

"I'm not," she said reflexively. "I'm just-"

The others were still high-fiving when Finn burst through the door, Mike on his heels. "Um, _stop him!"_ The Asian boy yelled, grabbing Finn's arm. Puck and Matt immediately jumped to their feet, Quinn following slowly.

"Finn!" she shouted as the tall boy shook off Mike. "FINN!"

Finn ignored her, pushing past Matt and landing a punch square on Puck's jaw. The tackle tumbled to the ground, hands over his face as Finn fell on him, arm rearing back.

By this time everyone was on their feet, surrounding the two boys in a circle. Tears were streaming down Quinn's face as Santana visibly held her back. Rachel rushed forward before Brittany or Mercedes could stop her and grabbed Finn's raised arm.

"Rachel, back off!" Puck shouted just as Finn yelled. "Get away from me, Rachel! I'm gonna punch his face off!"

"Why?" Rachel said. "_What_ are you _**doing**_, Finn?"

"He lied to me!" Finn screamed, turning his upper half towards her. To her credit, Rachel didn't flinch. "They've been lying to me this whole time, Rachel!"

Puck scrambled up and away from Finn while he said this, retreating into the circle the kids had formed. Finn made a grab for him but Rachel tugged him back, and he stood, facing Quinn.

"Mike told me the truth. About the baby."

Quinn just stared at him, tears glistening in her eyes. She'd always been such a pretty crier, but now she looked a mess, like her heart had been completely broken.

"I wanna hear you say it, Quinn."

Rachel slowly turned to Quinn as well, eyes questioning. Quinn moved away from Santana towards her boyfriend. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, shaking her head. "It's true. Puck's the father."

Finn heaved a broken little sob and covered his face with his hands. Rachel placed a hand over her mouth. Brittany knew she'd suspected it but actually hearing it was…

Finn made a noise that was the scariest mix of pain and loss and frustration and flat-out hatred and lifted his head, glaring at everybody but Quinn. "And you all knew, didn't you?"

His eyes reached hers and Brittany stared back guiltily. Rachel stared around at the circle of kids that would never include her. "You all knew?" she whispered. "And you didn't…say anything? Why not? Why would you…" She trailed off and she grew very still, gaze going distant.

"We were scared," Brittany choked out. "We wanted to win, Finn, we're sorry-"

"Don't." Finn's voice was cold and deep and frightening. "I'm done with you. With all of you."

Quinn's gasp was barely audible as Finn moved to stalk out of the room. All of the sudden he stopped, turned, and held out a hand to Rachel. She turned her head to look at it and Brittany could feel her slipping away.

"Rachel," she blurted, stepping forward, but the smaller girl wouldn't look. "Rachel, I'm so sorry. I would've told you, I would've told both of you, but you would've blabbed-"

"Save it," Rachel said sharply. "Just please…don't." Her hand slid into Finn's and without another word, they walked out of the room.

They stared silently at that door, holding their breath, waiting for them to come back, until Brittany could no longer take it. She walked to Quinn, put her arms around her, and burst into tears.


	5. Definition: Aftermath

**Hi, guys! I'm sorry this is so delayed. And it's actually not very long and I'm not sure if I'm proud of it or not. It's a little venture into Quinn-land and that's scary territory for me. A huge thanks to everyone who's reviewed, alerted, or favorited, and, if all three, you're the bomb-diggity for the hour. Live it up.**

* * *

"Thank you."

Brittany looked around at her. "You're welcome. Again."

Quinn smiled ruefully. "Do you need help?"

"It's just like a sleepover, Q. Got it covered."

Brittany was still upset, Quinn could see that. She looked over at Santana, who was watching the taller blonde as she spread a sheet over the couch. Santana met her eyes and frowned a little.

Brittany smoothed out a wrinkle in the sheet repeatedly, long after the fabric had flattened. Her shoulders were tense and the skin around her eyes and mouth was tight. She had not taken Rachel's choosing Finn very well and seemed to blame herself. Quinn knew the real blame rested squarely on her, which made this 'sleepover' all the more strained.

One hand wrapped around the cross at her throat while the other rested on her baby bump. "Brittany…"

"Are you okay?" The Cheerio cut her off, whirling around to face her. "I'm sorry, I haven't really asked that yet, but are you?"

"I'm…I don't deserve to feel sorry for myself, but…" Quinn trailed off, hearing Finn in her head – _'I'm done with you'_ – and choking off the sob that rose in her throat.

She clapped a hand over her mouth, wanting to stop the sobs, wanting to change everything. She took her hand away to whisper "I'm sorry-" and Santana's arms were winding around her.

"Quinn, it's okay if you wanna cry. I mean, that's what pregnant women do, but it's been an effed-up day and Finn…" Santana couldn't seem to bring herself to talk about Finn and looked at Quinn sadly. "I mean…it'll be okay, Q."

"For sure," Brittany echoed softly. "It'll be okay." Quinn looked up at her, shaken by the defeated look in her eyes. Her arms rose automatically, and, with a sniffle, Brittany collapsed into the hug.

_It isn't Finn. But it's close._

* * *

Santana snored. It was a fact that never ceased to amuse Brittany and Quinn before. Now, her back and feet aching and her heart broken into absolute pieces, Quinn was annoyed.

She looked to her left, to where Brittany was camped out on the recliner. The other blonde was staring at the ceiling. Quinn's mouth opened before she could think.

"Why'd you tell him?"

Brittany blinked, eyes sliding down to meet Quinn's. "Don't you think he deserved to know?"

"Wasn't it better when he didn't?" There was a desperate note in her voice that Quinn hated.

"No," Brittany bit out, voice harsh. "You lost him and I lost Rachel, but at least you're not ruining his life anymore. Right?"

Quinn sucked in a breath. She'd always avoided thinking of how the baby was going to affect Finn's life. She had a tendency to wrap herself up in her misery. Now it was there, in front of her: she would've never told the truth, and she would've wrecked his future. And Finn wouldn't have cared, because he loved her.

"Oh, God," Quinn breathed. "I'm so sorry…"

"I'm not the one that needs to hear it, Q," Brittany said, looking up again. After a moment, she looked back. "You know, even if Finn…you're not alone, okay? You've got me and San, and Puck. And my mom says you can stay as long as you like. You'll be alright, Quinn, I promise."

Quinn's eyes pricked uncomfortably. "Do you…forgive me?"

"I get _why_ you lied. I just wish…you woulda told me. I wish…" Her voice faded out and silence filled the living room. Brittany's eyes returned to the ceiling, growing glassy in the light from the moon filtering through the window.

"I wish you never _had_ lied."

* * *

The alarm on Santana's phone was "Tik Tok." Quinn woke with a start, not knowing where she was, and then Brittany said in a choked voice "Can we just stay in?"

The urge to say yes was overwhelming. She wouldn't have to face the stares and the jeers. She wouldn't have to see Finn or Puck and Brittany wouldn't have to see Rachel, and they could just sit and pig out on Ben & Jerry's.

But Puck was too proud to hide. He would be there. And she couldn't make him do this alone.

She sat up and tossed off the blanket. "B, do you have a T-shirt I can borrow? I am _sick_ of that sundress."

Brittany looked sidelong at her and heaved a great sigh. "Yeah, I guess. San, go toast some Pop Tarts, okay? Brown Sugar Cinnamons are in the back." She hefted herself off the recliner and tossed a pillow at an unmoving Santana, who yelped.

"Gah! I'm going!"

The brunette rolled off the loveseat and made her way to the adjoining kitchen, picking up pieces of her uniform on the way. Quinn followed her while Brittany ran upstairs.

Quinn leaned against the doorframe, watching Santana rummage through the pantry. "You were broken up," she blurted suddenly.

San shot a quizzical look over her shoulder. "Huh?"

"You and Puck. When we…you were broken up. I didn't…steal him or anything."

"Oh, my _God_, Q, like I care," Santana snorted, not looking at her. "Puck and I are just FWBs, nothing serious. _AHA!_" She reached her hand in and pulled out a box, smiling triumphantly at Quinn.

"Besides," she continued as the put the box down on the table, got down three plates from the cabinets, and starting pulling out Pop Tarts and depositing them in the four-slot toaster. "He'd been acting weird ever since you got pregnant and then you took him babysitting – by the way, lame – and after a while, I put two and two together and got Drizzle."

Quinn stiffened and Santana paused in the middle of pushing down the lever on the toaster. "God, Q, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Quinn said forcefully. San raised an eyebrow and the blonde sighed, shoulders drooping. "And even if it's not, I have to pretend it is. Things _have_ to be okay, otherwise I can't handle it."

"Well okay, then." Santana said after a moment. The toaster dinged behind her and she grinned. "Pop Tart?"

* * *

Puck found her as soon as she, Brittany, and Santana walked through the main doors.

"I need to talk to you," he said urgently. Santana waved awkwardly and dragged a confused-looking Brittany off to her locker down the hall. Quinn watched them go, her eyes drifting to the kids milling around, trying and failing to look like they weren't staring at her and Puck.

"So everyone knows," she said softly. Puck followed her gaze and nodded.

"Kinda big news." Puck's eyes, completely green in their seriousness, turned to her. "So you stayed at Brittany's last night?"

"Yes."

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"Quinn-"

"Puck, _please,_" Quinn snapped, her voice coming out in a harsh whisper. Puck took a defensive step back and a silence fell on them.

Puck looked down. "I wish you'd stop acting like this is all my fault."

The words were quiet but devastating to Quinn. Before she could respond, though, Puck was speaking again. "I know it's mostly my fault. That's why I'm trying to take responsibility. But you were there, too, Quinn. You kissed me back."

"Obviously," Quinn bit out, gesturing to her stomach. "It was a mistake.:

Puck did a borderline violent eye roll, making Quinn flush. "Whatever, Q. I'm trying to say I'll be here for you. Maybe when you start trying to hear me, things can get better."

He moved to leave but Quinn grabbed out. She stared at his dark hand in hers and said "I want to do this on my own."

His hand gripped hers tightly and he made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. Quinn looked up and immediately wished she hadn't. Puck looked furious.

"Quinn, you spent the night at Brittany's. You wore the same dress _twice_ last week. Finn's not gonna pay for your vitamins anymore and oh, by the way, _**you're sixteen**_." His eyes bored into hers, trying to get his point across, and she felt a little light-headed from all the reality crashing down. "You can't do this on your own. Not that you're not a kick-ass girl…you just can't."

He ran a hand over his Mohawk and slipped his other one out of hers. He started to walk away again only to stop, turn, and swiftly drop a kiss on her forehead.

"Mostly, though, Q, you don't have to."

* * *

"Have you talked to Rachel?" Santana asked Brittany, tearing apart the lettuce of her salad.

"Have you _seen_ Rachel?" Quinn corrected.

Brittany nodded glumly. "I caught her in the hall. She said that she doesn't consider it a betrayal or anything, but she can't '_reconcile_' my actions with Finn's emotions right now. End quote."

"But you're the one who told Mike to tell Finn!" Santana pointed out agitatedly. "I don't understand why she's mad at you."

"She's not," Brittany replied. "I mean, I've seen Rachel mad before; this, like, wasn't the same. She just seemed really sad."

"Well, we did all keep a life-altering secret from the guy she adores just so we could win a glee competition, so I can understand if she was like, a little upset on his behalf," Santana reasoned, oblivious to the hurt look that flitted across Quinn's face. "But I mean, seriously, B, you're the only person who's ever tried to be her friend, you think she'd be a little more forgiving."

Brittany looked down. "I think…she would've been better off if I had never tried."

Santana couldn't understand why this made Quinn start crying.

* * *

Glee rehearsals had been ramped up to two days a week and free period ever since they won Sectionals. Quinn was the second person to arrive on Wednesday afternoon, only after Rachel Berry.

The tiny brunette nodded carefully as Quinn sat down at the piano bench. "Good afternoon."

Quinn tried to smile in return but ended up just looking at her hands.

After a moment she worked up the courage and spoke. "You weren't in free period glee yesterday."

"Did you miss me?" Rachel's voice sounded strange with that cold, sarcastic edge. The diva sighed and tried again. "I had a meeting with Miss Pillsbury. She wanted to ask me about Finn."

"He missed school," Quinn agreed tonelessly, gaze traveling to the floor. She glanced back up when he snorted.

"No, he's attended. I've just informed him of the best hallways to take to avoid you and Noah between periods."

Quinn stared at her, completely flabbergasted. "Why?"

Rachel gave her an _are-you-stupid?_ look. "Because he doesn't want to talk to you, Quinn. He said," here she paused and looked to the ceiling. "He said he'd probably start crying if he saw you. Or Noah."

Quinn twisted her mouth to keep a little sob from escaping. Finn had been close these past two days and he'd been avoiding her. He couldn't bear the sight of her.

A heavy silence descended upon them, Rachel staring at the ceiling and Quinn at the floor.

"Is…is he okay?"

They looked at each other at the same time as Quinn's question traced the distance between them. Rachel tilted her head, staring at her, and smiled sadly.

"I suppose in a few weeks I'll tell you which ways he goes. So you can talk to him."

It didn't answer her question, but it did give her hope. "Thank you, Rachel."

Rachel nodded mechanically, a look in her eyes so sad that Quinn fought the urge to cross the room and hug her. "I don't hate you, Quinn. You're selfish and meaner than you have a reason to be, but you also love Glee Club and you believe in us. I may never like you, but I don't hate you."

A long moment and then:

"And neither does he."

* * *

In Glee, Rachel apologized to Tina for missing their study session the day before. Tina cautiously asked if they could try again next week. Rachel politely declined.

But just when hope seemed about out the window, Puck stood to offer his services as leading male vocals in Finn's absence and Quinn saw the ghost of Rachel's proud smile before it disappeared.

"Quinn…" Brittany said slowly. Quinn turned to her in the middle of tugging on a shirt. Over the past two days, she swore her belly had extended another inch. Brittany's T-shirts barely covered her bump. _Or maybe it's just a small t-shirt_, a reassuring voice in the back of her mind said. "I need to talk to you about something."

Brittany led her over to the bed they had been sharing since Wednesday night. Quinn glanced at her worriedly. "What is it, B?"

"Well, as you've noticed, my house is kind of small," Brittany started off, smiling nervously. Quinn nodded slowly, not liking where this could be going. Brittany looked at her for a moment before the floodgates broke. "Look, Q, we're just not rich enough to let you stay and feed you and the baby and oh, my God, I know that's _awful _but my parents have been fighting about you because my mom won't even think of putting you out and neither would I, Q, I love having you here, and I offered to give up my dance lessons but my dad is a freaking _psycho_ and could you please go to Santana's next week so they'll _stop yelling?"_

Brittany's eyes were glittering by the end of her speech and she was breathing heavily. Quinn had wondered why Brittany had grown quieter and quieter as the week went on and now she knew. She gripped Brittany's hand in hers and smiled.

"Its fine, B. I knew I couldn't stay here forever. I'll ask Santana today."

Santana happily agreed when they asked her at school and Quinn was glad to see some of the tension leave Brittany's shoulders as she and Santana linked arms and walked down the halls, laughing. She caught Puck staring from down the hall and smiled a little. He started to smile back then his gaze moved rapidly to something behind her and he started to move. Quinn turned.

Rachel didn't look as uncomfortable as she did so many months ago when facing the Queen Q. She looked calm and collected as she held out an envelope that looked painfully familiar to Quinn.

"Finn said to make sure your vitamins aren't running low. He also said there's a little extra in there so you can buy some clothes."

Puck arrived beside Quinn and stared at the envelope. "What is that?"

"It's Finn's paycheck…" Quinn supplied, voice faint. Puck stiffened, muttering something under his breath. Quinn looked up at Rachel. "I can't take this."

Rachel looked pointedly down at Quinn's midriff and then back up. "I'm quite sure you can. You're wearing a shirt that Brittany probably outgrew years ago." Without waiting for a reply, she seized Quinn's hand and crushed the envelope into it before curling Quinn's fingers over it.

"But…why?" Puck asked after a pause.

"Have you considered that making Finn think that baby was his for so many months endowed him with some semblance of paternal feelings? I believe he still thinks of that baby as his little girl. He just wants to make sure she and her mother are safe." She saw the look in Quinn's eyes and waved her hands. "Pure speculation on my part, by the way. I told you before, he doesn't hate you, Quinn."

Quinn looked Puck to Rachel. "Why are you being so nice?"

Rachel laughed completely mirthlessly. "I can see how you could confuse being nice with telling the truth. You don't have a lot of experience doing either." Quinn flinched a little and Rachel's face softened. "Just use the money well, okay, Quinn?"

She made to walk past them and was caught by the elbow by Puck. "So it's like you versus us now, or something? C'mon, Rache-"

"It's not…It's not like that, Noah, I just…" Rachel stared up at him. Quinn had the peculiar feeling she was intruding. "Finn needs me right now. He's my best friend and he needs me."

"What about Brittany?" Quinn cut in. Rachel's shoulders slumped a little and Puck released her.

"Brittany…and Tina and Mike…they lied to Finn to win Sectionals. I can actually understand that. _Of course_ I can." She laughed shakily. "But sometimes I glance at Finn's face and I see how lonely he looks, I see how everyone he trusted lied to him, and I just can't condone what she did."

"People make bad choices sometimes, Rachel," Quinn said, glancing guiltily at Puck. "You can forgive her for that, right?"

Rachel looked at her and seemed to understand that she was referring to more than just her and Brittany. That sad look from before crossed her eyes but she smiled a little.

"I believe I can. I just need more time."


	6. Definition: Forgiveness

**HIIIIIII! God, I'm sorry! So sorrysorrysorry! I'm just gonna stop talking and get down to it!**

**Oh, but BTW, you might've notice that some of chapters lost their scene breaks. I'm tryna fix that.**"Rachel."

* * *

She glanced up from her computer. Finn was sprawled out across her bed, staring at her. It was Sunday afternoon and that broken look had _almost_ faded from his eyes.

"Yes?"

Finn sat up, hugging one of her several pink pillows to his chest. "I never did thank you. For sticking with me when…well, thanks, basically. You've been so awesome."

She felt the heat rising to her cheeks and looked back at the computer screen quickly. "Of course I stood behind you, Finn. You're my friend."

"Your best friend?" Finn prompted teasingly.

"Of course."

Finn's face broke into a wide grin. "Aw, c'mere you!"

With a sheepish grin Rachel rose and crossed to the bed. Finn held open his arms and she fell into them, holding him close. Her heart was pounding so loud, she was surprised he couldn't hear. She just wanted to stay like this forever, safe and warm and _with Finn_.

His large hand rose and started stroking her hair. "You're my best friend, too, Rache. Best decision I ever made was joining glee and meeting you."

"Are you ever going to come back?" Rachel asked, toes tingling at his words but worry over glee taking precedence. She moved her head to look at him, making his brow furrow and his hand halt.

"I don't know."

She sighed and untangled herself from him, tucking her legs beneath her. She hated herself for what she was about to say. "You can't avoid her forever."

"I'm not," Finn whiningly protested, lying back down. "I just need some time. I can't face her right now."

"And Noah?"

Finn glared at the ceiling. "I don't ever want to see him again." His gazed traveled to Rachel. "Why do you care anyway? Quinn and _No-ah _were awful to you. Why are you trying to stick up for them?"

_Because you're miserable. Because she cries and he's resumed throwing slushies._

_Because no one deserves to look as sad as you do._

"Besides," Finn said when Rachel didn't answer. She refocused on him and noticed the uneasy look on his face. "I thought you wanted to, you know, be with me."

Rachel felt her mouth fall open as she just stared at Finn. Never before had he acknowledged the way she felt for him and now he was confirming it – _freely_ – at the worst possible time.

Finn looked expectant. She looked down at her fingers, twisted together – _t__his is all so tangled up _– and tried to organize her thoughts. "I-I do, Finn. More than you can possibly fathom. But this is not the right time to act on those emotions. You've just broken up with Quinn, been betrayed by your best friend and found out that a child you'd been told was yours for four months is not. You're emotionally compromised and I-"

She was cut off when Finn leaned forward and kissed her lightly. After one shocked moment she began to respond, rising up on her knees when he framed her face in his hands.

It was all so sweet she wanted to cry, but it wasn't right. She pressed against him a little harder – _one last moment_ – and then broke away, retreating to the head of her bed.

Finn reached for her. "Rachel-"

"You need to talk to Quinn. Not forgive her," Rachel said in a rush when Finn opened his mouth. "Just speak to her."

"Really, Rachel?" Finn snapped, throwing up his hands. "You're really gonna pull this?"

"I'm not 'pulling' anything," she replied defensively, a little confused as to what he was implying. "I just want you to be happy again."

"And you think talking to the girl who cheated on me with my best friend and lied to me for months is gonna make me happy?"

"I don't know," she answered slowly after a moment, ignoring the bite in Finn's words. "But I do think it could help."

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Rachel jumped about a foot in the air and turned to a smirking Puck. "Don't do that!" she hissed, a hand rising to rest over her pounding heart.

Puck shrugged. "If you weren't such a creeper, these things wouldn't happen to you."

She gave him her best glare (which only made him smile more) and turned back to the tiny window she had been trying to peek surreptitiously through.

"And I repeat, what are you-"

"Keep you're voice down," Rachel said lowly. "I'm trying to make sure Quinn doesn't make Finn cry."

"Wha-"

"Sh!"

"Rache-"

"_Sh!"_

Suddenly warm, heavy hands were resting on her shoulders. She craned her neck to find Puck's face alarmingly close to hers, eyes staring intently into the glee room.

"Looks like you've failed on your mission. I definitely see some waterworks." Puck's observation finally registered in her brain after one long moment of watching his lips move and she whipped back around. Sure enough, Finn was crying, gesturing wildly to Quinn, who had already been crying for several minutes. Rachel bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

"Well, he doesn't look too agitated, does he?"

"Nah," Puck answered. "Just angry." Rachel rolled her eyes and looked back at him. He was gazing at her with a vaguely impressed look on his faced. He stepped back, arms falling in a crossed position. "So how'd you manage this miracle?"

She turned to face him. "Why do you think I had anything to do with this?"

Puck's perma-smirk deepened. "Please. You're the only one who could talk some sense into Finn."

"Because Finn had some kind of obligation to talk to Quinn?" Rachel asked testily, eyes narrowing. Puck didn't seem to notice.

"Nah. It just would've happened sooner or later. Might as well get it over with now."

"And you expect the same thing to happen for you," Rachel postulated, folding her arms across her chest and belatedly realizing she was mirroring his position. She was surprised when Puck's expression darkened and he looked at the floor.

"I don't expect anything from him." She heard the _I don't deserve it _he didn't say and uncrossed her arms, wanting to reach out to him but stopping when Finn's voice rose and fell behind her.

"Have you even attempted to apologize to him?" she asked after a few minutes of silence, looking straight into Puck's eyes, trying to read him and once more finding him unreadable.

He clenched his jaw and threw up his hands. "Dude won't get within ten feet of me. How am I supposed to tell him how fucking _sorry_ I am?"

"Maybe you'll have to put a little effort into this, Noah," she said. When Puck rolled his eyes, she stamped her foot, frustrated. "Is he your best friend or _not_?"

Puck had the decency to look a little ashamed; which, when she thought about it, was probably a vast improvement over his normal range of emotions. But she was done with this. She gritted out a goodbye and was gone with a toss of her hair.

* * *

It wasn't Finn who found her in the library, but Mike. She was staring at her algebra, not really focusing, just concentrated on Noah and Finn and the whole mess when someone slid in the seat across from her.

"Practicing your Jedi mind tricks?"

She looked up. "Hello, Mike."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "So we're on speaking terms again?"

Rachel breathed out sharply. "Goodbye, Mike."

"No, hey, Rachel," Mike backtracked. "C'mon. You're being really unfair."

"How exactly is that?" Rachel asked, closing her book slowly, one eyebrow rising dangerously high.

"You're punishing Brittany for doing the right thing! She was the only one who wanted to tell Finn the truth; it was everyone else who wanted to keep it a secret!"

Rachel nodded. She knew all of this; Finn had told her on the awful Monday, curled up into the corner of her couch. The truth was, she wasn't sure she was even that angry with Brittany anymore, or that she ever was. She understood what the blonde and the rest of the glee club were thinking when they covered for Puck and Quinn. Finn would've quit the club and they would've been sunk at Sectionals. In fact, it had presented quite an interesting dilemma to Rachel: if she had been in Brittany's shoes, would she have done the same thing?

She knew she would've told Finn the truth, Sectionals or not. He was her friend and as someone who didn't have any, that meant the world to her. The glee club knew that and therefore did not trust her with the truth.

Maybe that's why she was so upset. She had believed Brittany and even Tina and Mike were her friends, but in the end she had still ended up on the outside. And she honestly couldn't see that changing anytime soon because _she_ refused to change. She knew who she was and she wasn't going to transform into someone to others' liking when they did not even care enough to get to know her in the first place. It was a vicious cycle, she knew, her not changing because nobody cared and nobody caring because she wouldn't change but it was _her_ life and she would not _pretend_ to make others feel better.

_But Brittany did try to get to know you. Brittany did like you._

"Rachel?" Mike looked concerned and Rachel realized she had been staring into space for about a minute. She started and focused on the Asian boy. His expression changed to one of expectancy and she sighed.

"It's very kind of you to come on her behalf," she started, making the edges of Mike's mouth quirk. "I'm no longer upset or angry at Brittany – or you."

"Then why won't you talk to her?" Mike demanded. "She's been depressed for like, a week. It's unnatural!"

Rachel was a little touched that she had even had an effect on Brittany. The Cheerio didn't need her friendship; in fact, she'd been better off without it.

"Rachel." Mike was still talking. "I get that you're like, in love with Finn and you're mad we didn't tell you guys but we didn't do to hurt you, honest. You're cool, Rache. I mean, you're super intense and that's scary, sometimes, but you're a really cool girl and…" Here Mike seemed to catch up to what he was saying and looking down, embarrassed. "And did I ever tell you how sorry I was, by the way?"

Rachel laughed at his reddening cheeks. "Oh, Mike. I forgave you for all that when I forgave Noah. You've proven yourself to be a truly good person and a loyal member of glee."

Mike cocked his head, a grateful smile on his face. "You really care about glee, don't you?"

"Very much," Rachel affirmed with a sharp nod, a feeling of hurt snaking through her that people still had to question it. Glee, barring her parents, her dreams, and Finn, was the most important thing in her life right now and she though she had shown that over the past months. These people were ridiculously committed to first impressions.

She smiled politely at Mike and said "I really need to get back to my studies."

Mike nodded and stood, shouldering his backpack. "So you'll talk to her?"

"I will," Rachel said, reopening her book. "See you again, Mike."

"For sure, Rache."

He passed Finn on his way out and Rachel watched as both boys tensed. Finn stopped and put a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder, speaking with a small smile. After a reply, Mike visibly relaxed and punched Finn on the shoulder before walking away. Rachel smiled as Finn spotted her and headed over.

He tossed himself into the chair next to hers and kissed her on the cheek. "And before you even say something, I talked to Quinn, so I totally get to do that."

Rachel giggled breathily, blushing. She placed her book in her bag and faced him fully, hand cautiously seeking out his. "How did that go?"

"Honestly? I cried," Finn said sheepishly. Their hands met and intertwined and he smiled gratefully. "But I think…I don't know. I can understand, you know, what she did. I just can't look at her the way I used to."

"That's fine," Rachel remarked lightly. "Do you feel even the slightest bit better?"

Finn nodded slowly. "I do. Kinda. You were right, Rache." Then he smiled at her, hand threading through her hair. "Of course you were."

"Of course," Rachel parroted as if it were obvious. Finn just grinned wider, fisted his hand, and brought his mouth closer to hers.

* * *

She caught Brittany at her locker, thankfully sans Santana or Quinn. Brittany looked up when she stopped beside her and her mouth fell open. "Rachel! Hi."

Rachel took a deep breath, looking in her friend's – definitely a friend's – bright blue eyes. "I was lying. I did consider it a betrayal. I felt like I was once again on the outside looking in, like I could never be your friend. But you tried to get to know me last week. You did what no other person has even attempted, not even Finn, and I'm so very thankful and touch by that. And though the secret you kept was horrendous, I understand why you kept it. And I'm proud to be a friend of the one person who was brave and true enough to help Finn."

She could feel the tears start trickling own her face as she said this, and she was horrified she was crying in the middle of school. But Brittany was blinking just as hard and her shoulders were shaking.

"Rachel…"

"Besides," she choked out, cutting her off. "You promised to take me shopping."

Brittany laughed through her tears and threw her arms around Rachel. "I'm so sorry, Rachel! I didn't mean to hurt you, I promise, you or Finn. You know that, right?"

"Right," Rachel affirmed, patting the taller girl's back soothingly. They pulled away from each other and giggled in the way that all girls do when friendship pulls through after all, wiping the tear tracks from the other's cheeks. Rachel felt her face was splitting from the size of her grin but she couldn't stop smiling. She was friends with Brittany again; but better yet, Brittany had still wanted to be her friend.

"You know you don't need me, right?"

Brittany smiled softly, wiped the last of Rachel's tears away, and gently linked her arm through the smaller girl's. "I know I don't _deserve_ you."

They entered free period glee together, prompting a few raised eyebrows. Rachel marched determinedly over to Tina and Mike and plopped down beside them, Brittany following suit while watching Santana's reaction. To Rachel surprise, once the shocked look faded off the Latina's face, she smiled and walked over to sit behind Brittany, next to Matt.

"So I guess you'll be taking those dance classes after all, Berry?"

Rachel fought back her trepidation – Santana's affections, with Brittany being the stunning exception, were notoriously fickle – and nodded. "It sounds like fun."

Santana nodded sharply. "Oh, tons. Just try and keep up, alright?"

Rachel was almost offended until she saw that Santana was still smiling. She jerked her head and Santana leaned back to talk to Matt, seemingly satisfied.

Artie wheeled over to talk to Tina and Rachel found herself falling into easy conversation, surrounded by Artie, Tina, Brittany, and Santana, Mike and Matt just beyond and Kurt and Mercedes hanging on the fringes, throwing out random comments. Rachel had no idea what they were talking about but it was wonderful.

When Puck and Quinn walked in, he looked apologetic and she looked like she was trying for grateful and failing miserably. Rachel's heart actually lurched from the sheer force of her pity and she rolled her shoulders, trying to shake it off. Those two would hate it if the knew how she felt.

"So," she said, clapping to her hands, giggling when everyone snapped to attention. "I was thinking we might rehearse a song I've been considering." In actuality, the song had come to her in something of a 'dream sequence' when the news of Quinn's pregnancy first became public and she had been semi-obsessed with making it a reality ever since. "What do you think of 'Keep Holding On?'" **(1)**

"From _Eragon_?" Matt asked. The rest of the club looked a little puzzled, but Rachel just smiled.

"Trust me, guys. We can make it special. It's what we do, right?"

She saw them glance at one another and prayed she wouldn't have to say what she was feeling out loud. _Being a part of something special makes you special._ They had made 'Don't Stop Believing' a battle-cry, 'Lean On Me' a show-stealer, and 'Proud Mary' a performance with so much meaning behind it. They could do anything they wanted, as long as they believed.

"We've got the heart," Kurt suddenly said, a look of surprise then comprehension flitting across his elfin face. They all look at him, startled, except for Rachel, who was smiling widely.

A long silence descended upon the club as they processed that, then, the most unexpected support spoke up.

"Damn straight we do," Puck said, stepping forward, looking hard at Rachel. "Alright, Rachel, if we're gonna do this lame-ass song, we gotta fucking tear it up. Whaddaya got?"

She grinned and stood, just as Mr. Schuester walked into the room. "Sorry I'm late guys, Emma – Miss Pillsbury – what are you doing?"

Rachel kept grinning and rushed forward. "A new song. I'm so glad you're here, Mr. Schue, I desperately need your help with the choral parts." She turned back to the others. "I believe…" she slowed, looking at their faces, that mixture of excitement for the song and sheer belief that Rachel was there, in front of them, and she cared again. "Quinn and Noah, why don't you take the verses? Artie and I will handle the refrain."

Puck and Quinn looked at one another, then back at her.

"But Rachel-"

"I'm not sure-"

"I'm positive it will work. The song suits your voices." When they still looked uneasy, she sighed. "Just try it, please."

She didn't really know what she was doing, if she was honest. She barely liked any of these people barring the few that had befriended her recently. And Noah. In fact, she was pretty sure she actively disliked Mercedes and Quinn. But this…this wasn't about her. Not everything was, and she understood that fact more often then people thought she did. _Her_ world was her. Fact. _The_ world was her? Fiction. Rachel knew lines.

But Glee had proved to her that lines, especially those drawn in sand (or Astroturf, or cheerio routines, or McQueen sweaters) were made to be blurred. If she reached out right now, she could lay a hand on Noah's shoulder. She could hug Brittany. She could swat Kurt upside the head. And they? All those other stereotypes? They could turn around and do the same thing, because she was within reaching distance as well.

She barely understood the point her own brain was trying to make, but Rachel was smiling. This wasn't about her. It wasn't about Brittany, or Finn, or QuinnFinnPuck. This was Glee. It was all about heart. And maybe if she could remember that from now on, hers would be stronger. She would be stronger.

After much prodding from Rachel the group lined up in three rows, using the lifts in the room as levels. They were just about to begin when Kurt turned, eyes shining, and said "Rachel? I'm sorry."

They all fell quiet. Rachel could feel them stealing sidelong glances at her, trying to gauge how she react, but Rachel just focused on Kurt. Talented and insanely rude Kurt who had tried to sabotage her relationship with Finn and had insulted her at every turn. A part of her wanted to throw it all back in his face but the look on his face was so sad and genuine that she swallowed the urge and forced out a "Thank you."

He frowned. "You don't think I'm serious. That's okay, because I know that I am, and I'll sleep like a baby tonight. But honestly, Rachel? Sometimes you're a diva and creepy and over-bearing and annoying, but sometimes, like now, you're a freaking angel in disguise, and it makes me sorry I lied to you and made fun of your clothes – _no matter how much they deserve it_ – so there. I'm sorry."

"I accept your apology," Rachel said a little breathlessly. If someone told her a week ago Kurt Hummel would be apologizing to her in the middle of glee rehearsal she would've laughed, but here it was, really happening to her, and it was becoming increasingly hard with every passing moment not to cry. So instead she blindly grabbed out for Mike and Tina's hands (and she would've given anything for their hands to be Finn's), shook her head, and said "Are we going to sing or not, Kurt?"

He flipped a lock of hair out of his eyes and laughed. "I'll be singing, Berry. You'll probably be doing your typical yelling."

Rachel rolled her eyes and signaled for the count to start.

* * *

**(1) Keep Holding On is probably real, but it looked a whole lot like a dream sequence to me so that's what I'm going with.**


End file.
